U.S. patent application number 13/006423 was filed with the patent office on 2012-07-19 for tie strap structure.
This patent application is currently assigned to Kevin Fong Chen. Invention is credited to Kevin Fong Chen.
Application Number | 20120180268 13/006423 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46489595 |
Filed Date | 2012-07-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120180268 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chen; Kevin Fong |
July 19, 2012 |
TIE STRAP STRUCTURE
Abstract
A tie strap structure includes a elastic main body and at least
one first raised section. The elastic main body has an anchor
section and an insertion section outward extending from the anchor
section. The anchor section has a first abutment side, a second
abutment side opposite to the first abutment side and a through
hole for the insertion section to correspondingly insert
therethrough. The first raised section is formed on one side of the
insertion section and projects from the side of the insertion
section. It is convenient to use the tie strap structure and the
tie strap structure is manufactured at lower cost.
Inventors: |
Chen; Kevin Fong; (Anaheim,
CA) |
Assignee: |
Chen; Kevin Fong
Anaheim
CA
|
Family ID: |
46489595 |
Appl. No.: |
13/006423 |
Filed: |
January 14, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
24/16R |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 24/14 20150115;
B65D 63/1018 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
24/16.R |
International
Class: |
B65D 63/00 20060101
B65D063/00 |
Claims
1. A tie strap structure comprising: a elastic main body having an
anchor section and an insertion section outward extending from the
anchor section, the anchor section having a first abutment side, a
second abutment side opposite to the first abutment side and a
through hole for the insertion section to correspondingly insert
therethrough; and at least one first raised section formed on one
side of the insertion section and projecting from the side of the
insertion section.
2. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising at least one second raised section formed on the other
side of the insertion section and projecting from the other side of
the insertion section corresponding to the first raised
section.
3. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the
insertion section has a first side and a second side opposite to
the first side, the first raised sections perpendicularly extending
from the first side, while the second raised sections
perpendicularly extending from the second side.
4. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the
insertion section has a first side and a second side opposite to
the first side, the first raised sections obliquely extending from
the first side, while the second raised sections obliquely
extending from the second side.
5. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein each two
adjacent first raised sections define a first receiving space
therebetween and each two adjacent second raised sections define a
second receiving space therebetween.
6. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein each two
adjacent first raised sections define a first receiving space
therebetween and each two adjacent second raised sections define a
second receiving space therebetween.
7. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
anchor section has a certain thickness, the thickness of the anchor
section being equal to or smaller than a width of the first
receiving space.
8. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
anchor section has a certain thickness, the thickness of the anchor
section being equal to or smaller than a width of the first and
second receiving spaces and the width of the first receiving space
being equal to that of the second receiving space.
9. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein the
anchor section has a certain thickness, the thickness of the anchor
section being equal to or smaller than a width of the first and
second receiving spaces and the width of the first receiving space
being equal to that of the second receiving space.
10. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein each
first raised section has a first free end formed with a first
recessed section for chucking wire materials of an article.
11. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein each
first raised section has a first free end formed with a first
recessed section for chucking wire materials of an article.
12. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 10, wherein each
second raised section has a second free end formed with a second
recessed section for chucking wire materials of the article.
13. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 11, wherein each
second raised section has a second free end formed with a second
recessed section for chucking wire materials of the article.
14. The tie strap structure as claimed in claim 13, wherein the
through hole has an elliptic configuration, a rectangular
configuration, a circular configuration or any other suitable
configuration.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a tie strap structure, and
more particularly to a versatile tie strap structure, which can be
conveniently reused to save cost.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The conventional tie straps are widely used in daily life to
fix or bundle articles. For example, a tie strap can be used to
keep the electrical wires of electrical devices, bundle sundries
and so on.
[0003] Please refer to FIG. 1A. The conventional tie strap includes
an anchor section 10 and a strap body 11. The anchor section 10 is
formed with a through hole 101 in which a latch tooth 103 is
formed. The strap body 11 is formed with cooperative engagement
teeth 112 arranged on the strap body 11 corresponding to the latch
tooth 103. In use, the strap body 11 is first wound around the
articles to be bundled and then passed through the through hole 101
of the anchor section 10. Then the strap body 11 is pulled tight to
latch the engagement teeth 112 of the strap body 11 with the latch
tooth 103 in the through hole 101 so as to tie up and bundle the
articles.
[0004] The conventional tie strap can be used to bundle the
articles. However, after the engagement teeth 112 are engaged and
latched with the latch tooth 103, the engagement teeth 112 cannot
be disengaged from the latch tooth 103. When the user desires to
untie the articles, it is necessary to use a blade to directly cut
off the strap body 11. Therefore, the tie strap cannot be reused.
This leads to waste of resource and increase of cost and fails to
meet the requirement of environmental protection. Moreover, the
conventional tie strap can be hardly conveniently used.
[0005] Furthermore, the tightness of the conventional tie strap
cannot be freely adjusted by a user himself/herself. This may lead
to security problem in use of the tie strap. For example, in case a
user incautiously ties up his/her own finger when bundling the
articles, it will be necessary to cut off the strap body 11 with a
sharp blade to untie the user's finger. When doing this, it often
takes place that the user negligently cuts his/her own finger. In
some other cases, when a user (such as a child) plays the tie
strap, the user may incautiously incorrectly tie up a part of
his/her own body with the tie strap, (such as the finger or the
neck). Under such circumstance, a child often fails to immediately
loosen the tie strap. As a result, after a period of time, the tied
up part may become necrotic. In some more serious cases, such
situation may lead to death.
[0006] To overcome the above problem, some manufacturers have
developed an improved tie strap structure as shown in FIGS. 1B and
1C. The improved tie strap structure includes an anchor section 10,
a strap body 11 and a disengagement section 13. The anchor section
10 is formed with a through hole 101. The disengagement section 13
has a latch tooth end 131 and a press end 132 extending from the
latch tooth end 131. The latch tooth end 131 is positioned in the
through hole 101. A user can press the press end 132 to release the
latch tooth end 131. Multiple cooperative engagement teeth 112 are
arranged on the strap body 11 corresponding to the latch tooth end
131. In use of such tie strap, the strap body 11 is first wound
around the articles to be bundled, (such as wire materials and
sundries), and then passed through the through hole 101 of the
anchor section 10. Then the strap body 11 is pulled tight to latch
the engagement teeth 112 of the strap body 11 with the latch tooth
end 131 so as to tie up and bundle the articles. When the user
desires to untie the articles, the user can press the press end 132
with his/her finger (or a tool with a tip). At this time, the latch
tooth end 131 is disengaged from the engagement teeth 112. Then the
strap body 11 can be extracted out of the through hole 101 to untie
the articles.
[0007] The articles can be tied up with the above tie strap and
untied therefrom. However, it is inconvenient to use such tie
strap. This is because when the user desires to loosen the tie
strap, the user needs to continuously press the tiny press end 132
with his/her finger (or a tool with a tip) for totally extracting
the strap body 11 out of the through hole 101. After a period of
time, the user's finger will feel uncomfortable or painful.
Moreover, since the press end 132 has a quite small press area, it
is hard for the user to precisely press the press end 132. As a
result, it is uneasy to loosen the tie strap from the articles and
the security in use cannot be ensured. Furthermore, it is difficult
to manufacture such tie strap with the disengagement section. As a
result, the manufacturing cost of such tie strap is higher.
[0008] Besides, the conventional tie strap itself is not elastic.
Therefore, the conventional tie strap can be hardly applied to soft
articles such as hairs, packaging bag, carriage bag and other
irregular soft articles. The conventional tie strap cannot truly
bundle the soft articles and is very likely to loosen from the soft
articles after tied. Therefore, the conventional tie strap can be
only applied to those hard articles such as wire materials and
sundries.
[0009] In conclusion, the conventional tie strap structure has the
following shortcomings: [0010] 1. It is inconvenient to use the
conventional tie strap. [0011] 2. The tightness of the conventional
tie strap cannot be adjusted by a user himself/herself as
necessary. [0012] 3. The conventional tie strap cannot be reused.
[0013] 4. The conventional tie strap cannot be reused so that the
cost cannot be saved. [0014] 5. The conventional tie strap cannot
be securely used.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0015] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a
versatile tie strap structure, which can be conveniently used.
[0016] A further object of the present invention is to provide the
above tie strap structure the tightness of which can be adjusted by
a user himself/herself as necessary.
[0017] A still further object of the present invention is to
provide the above tie strap structure, which can be reused to save
cost.
[0018] A still further object of the present invention is to
provide the above tie strap structure, which has excellent security
in use.
[0019] To achieve the above and other objects, the tie strap
structure of the present invention includes a elastic main body and
at least one first raised section. The elastic main body has an
anchor section and an insertion section outward extending from the
anchor section. The anchor section has a first abutment side, a
second abutment side opposite to the first abutment side and a
through hole for the insertion section to correspondingly insert
therethrough. The first raised section is formed on one side of the
insertion section and projects from the side of the insertion
section. The tightness of the tie strap structure can be adjusted
by a user himself/herself as necessary. In addition, the tie strap
structure can be reused to save cost. Moreover, the tie strap
structure is versatile and can be conveniently used.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] The structure and the technical means adopted by the present
invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best
understood by referring to the following detailed description of
the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings,
wherein:
[0021] FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a conventional tie
strap;
[0022] FIG. 1B is a perspective view of another conventional tie
strap;
[0023] FIG. 1C is a perspective view of the conventional tie strap
of FIG. 1B, seen in another direction;
[0024] FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the
present invention;
[0025] FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the
present invention according to FIG. 2A, in which the intervals
between the raised sections are enlarged;
[0026] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the
present invention in another form;
[0027] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the use of the first
embodiment of the present invention; and
[0028] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0029] Please refer to FIGS. 2A and 2B, which show a first
embodiment of the tie strap structure of the present invention. The
tie strap structure includes at least one first raised section 21,
at least one second raised section 22 and a elastic main body 2.
The elastic main body 2 has an anchor section 201 and an insertion
section 203. The anchor section 201 has a first abutment side 2011,
a second abutment side 2012 opposite to the first abutment side
2011 and a through hole 2013. The through hole 2013 has, but not
limited to, an elliptic configuration for illustration purposes
only. Alternatively, the through hole 2013 can have a rectangular
configuration, circular configuration or any other suitable
configuration. The through hole 2013 is positioned between the
first and second abutment sides 2011, 2012 for the insertion
section 203 to correspondingly insert therethrough.
[0030] The anchor section 201 has an elliptic configuration or any
other suitable configuration such as a rectangular configuration or
a circular configuration. The anchor section 201 has a certain
thickness 2015. The first raised sections 21 are formed on one side
of the insertion section 203 and project from the side of the
insertion section 203. Each two adjacent first raised sections 21
define a first receiving space 24 therebetween. The second raised
sections 22 are formed on the other side of the insertion section
203 and project from the other side of the insertion section 203
corresponding to the first raised sections 21. Each two adjacent
second raised sections 22 define a second receiving space 25
therebetween.
[0031] The intervals, that is, the first and second receiving
spaces 24, 25 between the first and second raised sections 21, 22
can be preset as necessary to adjust the binding tightness. In this
case, the allowance for the anchor section 201 positioned within
the first and second receiving spaces 24, 25 can be adjusted. For
example, as shown in FIG. 2A, the thickness 2015 of the anchor
section 201 is equal to the width of the first and second receiving
spaces 24, 25 and the width of the second receiving space 25 is
equal to that of the first receiving space 24. Alternatively, as
shown in FIG. 2B, the thickness 2015 of the anchor section 201 is
smaller than the width of the first and second receiving spaces 24,
25 and the width of the second receiving space 25 is equal to that
of the first receiving space 24. Accordingly, different binding
tightness can be achieved to avoid damage of the surfaces of the
bound articles (such as wire materials and sundries) due to
overtightening. Under such circumstance, the articles can keep a
beautiful appearance.
[0032] Please further refer to FIG. 2A. The insertion section 203
has a first side 2031 and a second side 2032 opposite to the first
side 2031. The first raised sections 21 are arranged on the first
side 2031 at intervals, (that is, project from the first side 2031
of the insertion section 203), and integrally connected therewith.
The second raised sections 22 are arranged on the second side 2032
at intervals, (that is, project from the second side 2032 of the
insertion section 203), and integrally connected therewith.
[0033] In this embodiment, the first and second raised sections 21,
22 respectively project from the first and second sides 2031, 2032
in, but not limited to, two forms for illustration purposes
only.
[0034] FIG. 2A shows the first form of the first raised sections
21, which perpendicularly extend from the first side 2031 and also
shows the first form of the second raised sections 22, which
perpendicularly extend from the second side 2032. FIG. 3 shows the
second form of the first raised sections 21, which obliquely extend
from the first side 2031 and also shows the second form of the
second raised sections 22, which obliquely extend from the second
side 2032.
[0035] The operation of the tie strap of the present invention is
described as follows:
[0036] Please refer to FIGS. 2A and 4. When a user uses the tie
strap to bind articles (not shown), the insertion section 203 is
first wound around the articles to be bound. Then, the insertion
section 203 is passed through the through hole 2013 of the anchor
section 201 and pulled tight to engage (or receive) the anchor
section 201 in the first and second receiving spaces 24, 25. At
this time, the first and second abutment sides 2011, 2012
respectively abut against the opposite sides of the first and
second raised sections 21, 22 to provide a binding effect for the
articles.
[0037] When the user desires to untie the articles, the user needs
to move the anchor section 201 outward in a direction away from the
articles until the insertion section 203 is extracted out of the
through hole 2013 of the anchor section 201. At this time, the
articles are untied. In the case that the user only wants to adjust
the binding tightness of the articles, (for example, slightly
loosen the articles), the user only needs to move the anchor
section 201 outward in a direction away from the articles until the
anchor section 201 reaches a position with the desired tightness.
Then, the anchor section 201 is engaged (or received) in the first
and second receiving spaces 24, 25 with the desired tightness. At
this time, the first and second abutment sides 2011, 2012
respectively abut against the opposite sides of the first and
second raised sections 21, 22 to provide a binding effect for the
articles. Accordingly, the user himself/herself can freely adjust
the tightness of the tie strap according to the requirement of the
user. In addition, the tie strap can be conveniently reused to save
cost.
[0038] The tie strap structure of the present invention is
applicable to different articles with different hardness. For
example, the tie strap can be applied to human hairs as a hair band
for bundling hairs. Alternatively, the tie strap can be applied to
a packaging bag or carriage bag as a sealing band for sealing the
packaging bag or carriage bag. Alternatively, the tie strap can be
applied to wire materials and sundries to bundle the same.
Accordingly, the tie strap is versatile and can be widely used in
various fields.
[0039] Please refer to FIG. 5, which shows a second embodiment of
the present invention. The second embodiment is substantially
identical to the first embodiment in major structure, connection
relationship and function and thus will not be repeatedly described
in detail hereinafter. The second embodiment is only different from
the first embodiment in that each first raised section 21 has a
first free end 211 formed with a first recessed section 212 and
each second raised section 22 has a second free end 221 formed with
a second recessed section 222. The first and second recessed
sections 212, 222 serve to chuck wire materials of articles. For
example, after the articles are fixedly bundled with the tie strap
structure, the appendant wire materials of the articles can be
chucked in the corresponding first and/or second recessed sections
212, 222 to help in keeping the wire materials. In conclusion, in
comparison with the conventional tie strap, the present invention
has the following advantages: [0040] 1. It is convenient to use the
tie strap of the present invention. [0041] 2. The tightness of the
tie strap of the present invention can be adjusted by a user
himself/herself as necessary. [0042] 3. The tie strap of the
present invention can be reused. [0043] 4. The tie strap of the
present invention can be reused to save cost. [0044] 5. The tie
strap of the present invention can be securely used.
[0045] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the
present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. It is
understood that many changes and modifications of the above
embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the
present invention. The scope of the present invention is limited
only by the appended claims.
* * * * *